Coin selector and rejector



June 30, 1936. c, B B K COIN SELECTOR AND REJECTOR Filed April 16, 19352 Sheets-Sheet l ENVENTOR June 30, 1936. Q BROOKS 2,045,976

COIN SELECTOR AND REJECTOR Filed April 16, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 of thetype designed to Patented June 30, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE2,045,976 I COIN SELECTOR AND REJECTOR Charles B. Brooks, Masontown, Pa.Application April 16, 1935, Serial No. 16,551

6 Claims.

This invention relates to coin operated devices such as telephones,vending machines, etc., and more particularly to a device for use withsuch machines that will accept coins, such as nickels, dimes, andquarters, provided they are within a predetermined percentage of thestandard weights for such coins, and which will reject legal coins,under the minimum preselected acceptable weights, as well as slugs.

An object of this invention is the provision of a coin selector andrejector of the type referred to above that shall be simple inconstruction, sensitive and reliable in operation, and which may beadjusted to receive legal coin of the standard or legal weight or withina predetermined percentage of standard or legal weight and which willreject all coins that are lighter than the predetermined minimum. It isalso an object of the invention to provide a device of the characterreferred to above that will reject all slugs except those which are madethe size of legal coin and of an alloy whose weight is substantiallyprecisely equal to the weight of the legal coins within the limits ofacceptable under-weight coins, but which if adjusted to receive only"standard legal weight coin would reject all slugs which are not made ofthe precise alloy as legal coin and of the same size as legal coin.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a device of thecharacter referred to above that shall be adapted for use with existingcoin operated devices. Other objects of the invention will in part beapparent and will in-part be obvious from the following descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a more or less diagrammatic view of a coin selector andrejector device in side elevation embodying the principles of theinvention;

Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation of the device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig.3 is an enlarged view of the discharge end of a coin receiver orcarrier and its coin release mechanism embodied in the device of Figs. 1and 2; and

Fig. 4 is a view in section taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 3.

Throughout the drawings and the specification like reference charactersindicate like parts.

In the drawings, and with particular reference to Figs. l and 2, adevice i is shown which is ar ranged for use with a pay telephone (notshown) receive coin of three denominations, i. e., nickels, dimes andquarters. Device i is provided, therefore, with three units 2, 3 and 4each embodying the invention. For convenienceof description it may beassumed that unit 2 is associated with the dime receiving channel of thetelephone, unit 3 with the nickel receiving channel thereof, and unit 4with the 5 quarter receiving channel thereof. While device I is shown asadaptable to a coin operated device which will receive coins of morethan one denomination, it will be understood that it may be used withdevices receiving coins of only one de- 10 nomination as well as agreater number of denominations.

A general statement of operation, it is believed, will aid theunderstanding of the invention. It a party wishes to make a telephonecall requir- 15 ing the deposit of a nickel, a nickel is dropped in achute 5" of device 3, and if it is of standard legal weight will bedeposited in a receptacle 6 from which the nickel will pass through theproper channel in the telephone and which would, 20 therefore, eithergive the party a connection with the central oflice or a connectionthrough which the desired call could be completed by the depositor. Unit3 may be adjusted to accept only coins of the exact legal weight, or toaccept coins of lighter weight, for example, coins which are lighter bytwo, three or four grains. Of course, the wider the range of acceptableweight, the easier it becomes for the unscrupulous to devise slugs whichwould have the size of a nickel and a weight that would fall within theacceptable weight range.

If the slug or coin deposited is lighter than the acceptable minimumweight, it will be delivered to a reject receptacle 1 from which thesame is 35 returned through a chute 8 to the depositor. Should the slugor token be heavier than the weight of a standard nickel, such slug ortoken would be deposited in a reject receptacle 9 from which it isreturned via chute 8 to the depositor. Units 2 and 4 operate on the sameprinciple as unit 3, rejecting coins or slugs which are lighter than theminimum acceptable weight and depositing them in receptacle 1 or inseparate re- 45 ceptacles if desired, and rejecting coin or slug whichare heavier than the legal standard and depositing them in rejectreceptacle 9.

Since units 2, 3 and 8 are shown as being identical in construction, theparts of the various units 5 differing merely in size, since eachaccommodates coin of a size and weight which are difierent from theothers, the following description will be confined to unit I only,although corresponding or similar parts of units 2 and 3 will bedesignated by the same reference characters but with single or doubleprimes aihxed thereto.

. Unit 4 comprises a chute 3 into which quarters are deposited and aweighing mechanism It all of which is supported by a standard ll of anysuitable form. Chute I is preferably shaped to receive the coin edgewiseand slopes downwardly at a pitch suiilciently steep to ensure that thecoin will move rapidly and freely to the weighing mechanism. Theweighing mechanism l9 comprises an arm l2 which is mounted on a shaft l3the opposite ends of which are journalled in anti-friction bearings ll,preferably jeweled bearings, carried by support arms ll secured tostandard II. To one end of arm I2 is secured a coin receiver of carrierl3 having'a keeper ll which operates toretainthecoinorsluginthecarrieruntilthe weight thereof has beenascertained, after which it is actuated by means, to be described laterherein, to release the coin or slug as the case may be, into its properreceptacle, either receptacle 9, I or 9 depending on its weight and/orsize. The other end of arm l2 carries a counterweight I9 which may beadjustable lengthwise of the arm to secure the proper balance betweenthe coin receiver or carrier l9 and the counterweight. It is preferredthat the counterweight shall have such mass and be so located from shaftl3, that, when the carrier I9 is empty, arm l2 will swing to the fullline position shown in Fig. 1 and hold the carrier lightly but firmlyagainst the lower end of chute 5. For convenience in adjustingcounterweight l9, arm l2 and the weight may be screwthreaded so that theweight may be screwed towards or away from shaft I3 and thereby obtainthe desired counterweighting effect.

In order that legal coins of the proper or acceptable weight may bedeposited in the acceptance receptacle 9, or deposited in the rejectreceptacle I if under the minimum acceptable,

weight, and that slugs whether of underweight and/or size or ofoverweight and/or size may be deposited in either reject receptacle I or9, a weight detector 29 is provided. Weight 29 is secured to an arm 2|attached to arm l2 at such a point with respect to shaft l3 that whenarm i2 is in the full line position of Fig. 1, the moment arm of weight29 about the axis of shaft I3 is zero. This weight should be of suchmass and located at such a distance from the axis of shaft l3 that whena legal coin of acceptable weight is incarrier It, the moment of itsmass about the axis of shaft II will be suflicient to arrest thedown-swing of arm I2 when carrier I9 is in a position to deposit'thecoin (a quarter in this case) in receptacle 6; or if the coin or slug isbelow the acceptable weight, then to arrest the down-swing of the arm l2at the point where such coin or slug will be deposited by carrier IS inreject receptacle 1; or if the slug is heavier than the standard weightof a legal quarter, then to arrest the down-swing of arm l2 when thecarrier is in position to depositsuch slug in reject receptacle 9.

The effect and purpose of detector weight 20 may be accomplished by sopositioning arm 2| that it hangs vertically and directly under shaft l3when arm I2 is in the full line position shown in Fig. 1. When in thisposition it will be apparent that the moment arm about the axis of shaftI3 is zero. The retarding effect of detector weight 29 becomesincreasingly greater as arm l2 swings downwardly through an increasinglygreater angle, and reaches a maximum when it has swung through an angleof in a counterclockwise direction as seen in Fig. 1 in which positionweight 20 and arm 2i would be in a horizontal plane. The retardingefl'ect of weight 23 varies with the sine. of the angle through which 5it sweeps from its zero moment position. When weight 29 has sweptthrough an angle of 90' in a counterclockwise direction the moment armis a maximum since the sine of 90' is equal to unity. Therefore, it isapparent that by selecting a 10 weight of the proper mass andpositioning that weight on arm 2| at such a distance from the axis ofshaft l3 that the product of the weight and its moment arm will balancethe moment arm of the coin and its carrier about the axis of 15 shaft l3when the carrier is in position to deposit a legal coin of theacceptable weight in receptacle 3, that the down-swing of arm l2 may bearrested at the proper place to affect the deposit of the coin inreceptacle 9. It is, therefore, ap- 20 parent that coins or slugs whichare outside of the acceptable weight will be deposited in rejectreceptacles I or 9 depending on whether they are heavier or lighter thanthe acceptable weight above mentioned. 25

In order that coins or slugs may be deposited in the proper receptaclescarrier I9 is provided with a trip element 22 which cooperates with aseries of trips 23, 24, and 23 to disengage keeper H from the coin orslug, which may be in carrier 30 it, when the carrier is in the positionto deposit the coin or slug in the proper receptacles 9, I or 9.

Keeper II, trip element,22, and trips 23, 24, and 25 will now bedescribed. v

Keeper II comprises a V-shaped member hav- 35 ing spaced upwardlyextending arms 28 at its forward end through the upper ends of which apin 21 extends and on which the keeper'is pivotally supported. Pin 21 issupported in a U- shaped bracket 29 secured to they top of and at 40,

the forward end of carrier it. A leg 29 of keeper l1 extends into adownwardly and forwardly inclined slot 30 formed in the top of carrierl9 and when in its full line position engages and retains a coin orslug-of thev proper size in carrier" 45 until the keeper is released toallow the coin or slug to discharge into one of receptacles 6, I, or 9,depending upon its weight. Leg 29 of keeper I! as shown in Fig. 3, isconsiderably wider than carrier l9 and projects. laterally from eachside 50' thereof, so that, as will be described later herein, it willcooperate with stop 29 to effect the discharge of slugs, which areheavier than standard weight coins, into receptacle 9.

In Fig. 4, a coin (quarter) is shown in broken 55 lines in the positionit is retained by keeper I! when it first arrives therein from chute 5.Leg 29 lies tangent to the coin at a point forwardly of the highestpoint of the coin. To release the coin from carrier l9,keeper I1 isturned counter- 60 clockwise and as it turns, the coin rolls downwardlytowards the outlet of the carrier. It will be apparent that keeper I!should not at any time as it turns, exert any force on the coin whichwill tend to roll the coin upwardly in the carrier, 65

i as this would require that a strong tripping force.

be applied to the keeper and this would decrease the sensitivity of thedevice. To prevent the exertion of such a force on the coin, the vshapedportion of keeper I! is so shaped that leg 29 thereof is always tangentto the coin as it rolls downwardly in carrier I 9 as the keeper ismoving out of slot 39. In other words, the line of contact between leg29 and keeper l1 and the 75 V 2,045,970 coin or slug should be one oftangency to the contour of the coin, or slug.

Trip element 22 comprises a tongue 3| shown as being upwardly curved,and which projects forwardly of carrier ii. The rear end of the tongueterminates in spaced downwardly projecting legs 32 disposed between arms26 of keeper ll. Pin 21 extends through legs 32 and pivotally supportselement 22. The forward edges 33 of legs 32 extend below the uppersurface of keeper I! at its forward end and from these points the loweredges of legs 32 curve upwardly as at 34,

so as to clear keeper II when trip 22 is turned clockwise. Thus if tripelement 22 is turned clockwise as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, legs 32 willnot engage keeper H but if the trip is turned counterclockwise the lowerforward ends of legs 32 will engage the forward end of keeper l1 andturn it counterclockwise on pin 21, thereby moving leg 29 of the keeperout of slot 39 and out of engagement with a coin or slug that may be inthe carrier Hi. In order to limit the turning movement of trip 22 in aclockwise direction a stop 35, in the form of a pin is inserted throughthe upper portion of bracket 28, see Fig. 3. Trip element 22 and keeperl'I always return to the full line position shown in Figs. 1 and 4 uponthe return of carrier Hi to its coin or slug receiving position.

Weight 20 is shown threaded on arm 2| so that it may be adjusted towardsor from the shaft l3. By adjusting weight 29 along arm 2|, theacceptable weight range of coin may be preselected. Weight 20 may be soadjusted that only legal weight coin is accepted or it may be adjustedto accept lighter (worn) coin but these limits should not be so wide asto permit slugs to pass for acceptable legal coin.

The operation of unit 4 will now be described, and since units 2 and 3operate in the same manner as unit 4, the operation of units 2 and 3will not be described.

Assuming unit 4 is adjusted to take quarters of standard weight and/orquarters which have been worn but which are within say four grains ofthe standard weight, a quarter when deposited in chute 5 will roll intocarrier I6 and will be retained therein'by keeper II. The weight of thequarter in carrier I6 will cause arm I 2 to swing downwardly to aposition in which trip element 22 slides over stop 24. As it slides overstop 24 the element 22 turns clockwise and therefore does not disengagekeeper I! from the coin. When the carrier has moved slightly past trip24 it comes to rest and starts to swing upwardly and past trip 24. Asthe carrier moves past stop 24 on the upswing, tongue 3| of trip element22 engages trip 24 whereby it is caused to turn counterclockwise therebyturning keeper l1 counterclockwise and releasingthe coin immediately sothat it drops in the receptacle 6 from which the coin passes throughtheproper channels of the telephone which will either effect aconnection with the central oflice or make a connection by which thedepositor, can complete his own call.

If a legal quarter is deposited in chute 5 which is lighter than theminimum acceptable weight for which unit 4 is'adjusted, then carrier l6will not swing downwardly past trip 24, i. e., the downward swing willbe arrested by weight 20 before trip element 22 has moved across trip24. On the reswing, i. e., the upswing of carrier i6, trip element 22engages stop 23, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 1, whereby the tripelement is turned counterclockwise causing keeper II to turncounterclockwise and to release the underweight coin to the rejectreceptacle I from which it slides via chute 8 to the return receptacle,usually provided with telephones.

If a slug is deposited in chute 5, which is of 5 a diameter so smallthat it will not engage leg 29 of keeper this slug will merely passthrough carrier IS without causing arm |2 to swing downwardly and theslug will drop into the reject receptacle I.

If a slug, of a size which will engage leg 29 of keeper I1 is depositedin chute 5, but which is of a weight greater than the standard weight ofa legal quarter, the down-swing of arm l2 and carrier I6 will be of suchamplitude that stop .15 25 will engage leg 29 of keeper II as at 31 (inwhich case carrier l6 would be inverted with respect to the position itoccupies in Fig. 1) and turn the keeper out of engagement with the slug.The momentum of the slug at this point will cause 20 it to be dischargedinto reject receptacle 9.

If a slug of greater weight than the weight of a standard legal quarter,is deposited in chute 5, the downswing of the carrier and arm |2 will berapid at the beginning but as it approaches 25 step 25, the velocity ofthe swing will have decreased to such extent that leg 29 of keeper I!will not strike stop or trip 25 with sufilcient impact to destroy theadjustment or the sensitivity of the device. The deceleration of thedownswing is accomplished by the detector weight 20, which as statedpreviously herein, exerts its maximum arresting force when weight 20 andits arm 2| have swung through an angle of 90 from the position shown infull lines in Fig. 1.

When arm l2 and carrier l6 have swung downwardly no matter how far, thedetector weight 29, and counterbalance weight l8 will efiect the returnor upswing of carrier I6, but as the carrier approaches the dischargeend of chute 5, the return eiTect of the detector weight 20 becomes lessand less and is zero when it reaches a position vertically under supportshaft l3. This action of the detector weight 20 both on the downswingand the upswing causes the carrier to come to rest at the end of itsswings in either direction gently and without undesirable impact.

From the above it will be seen that the amplitude of the downswing ofcarrier I6 for underweight legal coins and slugs extends fromchute 5down to but not past stop 24; for legal coins of acceptable weight, theamplitude extends from chute 5 down to but not past stop 25; and forslugs of greater weight than legal coin, the downswing amplitude extendspast stop 25. There are therefore three amplitude zones, and in thefirst two mentioned zones, the release of coin or slug takes place onthe return or upswing, while in the last zone, the release of overweightslugs takes place on the downswing or at about the 60 end of thedownswing.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device for use with coin operated machines adapted to acceptlegal coin of standard weight and to reject underweight coins and slugsof underweight and undersize, and slugs heavier than legal weight coins,said device comprising a conveying chute, a pivotally supported swing amhaving a coin carrier at one end and a counterweight adapted to urge thearm in such direction that the carrier is in coin or slug receivingposition with the chute, a keeper on said carrier for retaining a coinor slug of a certain diameter 75 therein, means for moving the keeperout of engagement with the coin or slug in the carrier, said carrierswinging downwardly with the armwhena coin or slug is in the carrier andof a size to engage the keeper, a reject receptacle for underweightcoins and slugs or undersize slugs, a reject receptacle for overweightslugs, and a receptacle for legal weight coins, means for actuating thekeeper moving means to effect the release of coins or slugs to thereceptacle to which it relates by weight,.and means associated withsaid. swing arm for so controlling the downswing of the arm that thekeeper actuating means will be operated to effect the release of coin orslug to the proper receptacle according to its weight.

2. A device for use with coin operated devices and designed to rejectboth unacceptable coin and slugs, comprising a coin receiving chute, apivotally supported swing-arm having a coin carrier and a counterweightwhich normally urges the arm to a position in which the carrier is inposition to receive coins or slugsfrom the chute, a coin or a slug ofcoinsi'ze, causing the arm to swing downwardly, means for retaining thecoin or slugin the carrier, means spaced along the path of travel of thecarrier for actuating the retaining means to a position to release acoin or a slug from the carrier according to the weight thereof, andmeans associated with the swingarm for causing the arm to swing into arelease position corresponding to the weight of the coin or slug in thecarrier in which position the retaining means is actuated by one of saidrelease means to release position, one of said release meansbeingoperative, on underweight coin and slugs, another being operativeon acceptable coin, and another being operative on overweight slugs.

3. A device for use with coin operated devices and designed to rejectboth unacceptable coins and slugs, comprising a coin receiving chute, apivotally supported swing-arm having a coin carrier and a counterweightwhich normally urges the arm to a position in which the carrier is inposition to receive a coin or a slug from the chute, a coin or a slug ofcoin size, causing the arm to swing downwardly, means for retaining thecoin or slug in the carrier, means spaced along the path of travel ofthe carrier for actuating the retaining means to a position to release acoin or a slug from the carrier according to the weight thereof, aweight detector secured to the swing arm for arresting the downswing ofthe arm and carrier at such a point, as determined by the weight of suchcoin or slug, that the release means may become operative to causeunacceptables, such as underweight slugs, underweight coins, andoverweight slugs to be released for rejection, and to cause acceptablecoins to be released for acceptance to an acceptance receptacle, therebeing means for conveying the aforesaid unacoeptables when released, toa return chute.

4. A device for use with coin operated devices and designed to rejectboth unacceptable coins and sings, comprising a coin receiving chute, apivotally supported swing-arm having a coin carrier and a counterweightwhich normally urges the arm to a position in which the carrier is inposition to receive a coin or a slug from the chute, a coin or a slug ofcoin size, causing the arm to swing downwardly, means for retaining thecoin or slug in the carrier, means spaced along the path of travel ofthe carrier for actuating the retaining means to a position to release acoin or a slug from the carrier according to the weight thereof, aweight detector secured to the weight arm at such a point with referenceto the axis about which the swing-arm turns that when the carrier is incoin-receiving position the moment of the detector is zero but whichmoment increases in accordance with the sine of the angle through whichit swings when the swing arm is on its downswing, said detectorarresting the downswing of the arm and carrier at such a point, asdetermined by the weight of such coin or slug, that the release meansmay become operative to cause underweight slugs, underweight coins, andoverweight slugs to be released at points determined by the respectiveweights thereof, and acceptable coin to be released at a point difierentfrom the points of release of the unacceptables to an acceptancereceptacle, there being means for conveying the aforesaid unacceptableswhen released, to a return chute.

5. A device according to claim 1 in which the carrier comprises an openended member through which coins or slugs may pass, said member having adownwardly inclined slot in the top thereof, a keeper pivotally mountedon the top of said carrier and having a portion extending into said slotso as to engage coins or slugs tangentially, a trip member pivotallymounted on the carrier and acting only to turn the keeper to a positionto release a coin or a slug from the carrier, and trip means spacedalong the path of swing of the carrier adapted to actuate the tripmember and keeper only on the upswing of the carrier arm to efiect therelease of coin to-the acceptance receptacle if of proper weight and toefiect the release of slugs or underweight coin to reject receptacles.

6. A device according to claim 4 characterized by that the weightdetector lies in a vertical plane passsing through the axis of rotationof the swing arm when the carrier is in coin receiving relation to thechute and that said detector is adjustable towards or from said axis topreselect the allowable weight range of acceptable legal coin.

CHARLES B. BROOKS.

